Acid Spill Forces Brief Evacuation At Courthouse

FORT LAUDERDALE - — More than 100 people were evacuated from the Broward County Courthouse on Tuesday morning when malfunctioning batteries spilled sulfuric acid into a first-floor control room.

Battalion Fire Chief Steve McInerny said 18 people were taken to Broward General Medical Center for headaches and throat and lung irritations. Six others were treated at the scene.

The courthouse was closed to the public for about an hour, and reopened at 9:30 a.m., McInerny said. Traffic was rerouted as Southeast Sixth Street was closed between Andrews Avenue and Third Avenue.

The evacuation followed by one day about $500 in damage after a juvenile prisoner set off an overhead sprinkler in a second-floor holding cell in the courthouse's new north wing.

Tuesday's spill occurred in the old section of the courthouse at 201 SE Sixth St. McInerny said two batteries - about one-third the size of car batteries - spilled over about 6 a.m. The batteries were used as backup for a fire alarm panel. Firefighters, including members of the hazardous material team, were called about 8 a.m.